i wouldn't say wrong... i simply believe the best way to "do church" aka community is the way we were taught in Acts. I think the super ritualistic, political, denominational entities are often walking outside of the path God intended...

again, the church of Antioch is where it's @.

The early history of the Church of Antioch is detailed in the Acts of the Apostles...

Your sacred 12 apostles and the Jesus idea were stolen from the Aztecs. Quetzalcoatl was born of a virgin, slain in atonement for primal sin, and had a confidently expected second coming. Often he was represented as a trinity signified by 3 crosses. Additionally, he was watched by his 12 guards.

While we are on history of Christology, let's talk a bit about Christ's story/characteristics.

First, Jesus didn't make much of an impression on his contemporaries. No known literate person mentioned him in writing while he was alive. The Gospels weren't written by anyone who knew Jesus personally as the earliest book of the New Testament Thessalonians was written in 51 AD.

Every part of Jesus' story and his special names/myths were also stolen from various other religions. I'll touch on a few. From Rome, Adonis was born in a cave in Bethlehem. Many gods have been eaten in the form of bread including Adonis, Osiris, and Dionysus. In Greek mythology Attis was sacrificed on the spring equinox and rose from the dead on the third day.

Christos or Annointed was stolen from the Middle Eastern gods Adonis and Tammuz who were born of virgin mothers. (Aprhrodite-Maria or Ishtar-Mari) Odd, that the names are so similar to Mary. Good Shepherd was the name of Osiris and also Tammuz. Mirthra and Heracles were known as Light of the World. Multiplying loaves and fishes was done by Demeter. Turning water into wine was done by Dionysus.

Christian theology gave the underworld the name hell which was stolen from the Norse Queen of the Underworld. Her name was Hel. Ironically Hel, was not a place of punishment. It was more of a sacred cave of rebirth.

The Christian church didn't have a birthday for its savior for the first 3 centuries. During the 4th century a date was adopted. December 25 also tipped the hat to Attis, Dionysus, Osiris, and Baal who all went by the name Savior. Also Buddha was born on December 25th, long before Jesus.

It seems these folks ripped off a lot of other religions who ultimately stole their story from the Pagans.

While belief in the myth of the bible has been a means for some people to do wonderful deeds, it has also been the reason behind terrorism such as the Inquisition when the the acceptance of the church was forced on a public that didn't want it. This folklore is still be used to hurt and malign various groups today...

We can do good without needing a fake deity to guide us or tithe our money to.

I personally am a Pastafarian who follows the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The history and folklore behind FSM is equally compelling. Personally, I also rather appreciate the FSM's commandments such as "I'd Really Rather You Didn't Use My Existence As A Means To Oppress, Subjigate, Punish, Eviscerate, And/Or, You Know, Be Mean To Others. I Dont Require Sacrifices, And Purity Is For Drinking Water, Not People." or "I'd Really Rather You Didn't Build MultiMillion-Dollar Churches/Temples/Mosques/ Shrines To My Noodly Goodness When The Money Could Be Better Spent (Take Your Pick): A. Ending Poverty B. Curing Diseases C. Living In Peace, Loving With Passion, And Lowering The Cost Of Cable. I Might Be A Complex Carbohydrate Omniscient Being, But I Enjoy The Simple Things In Life. I Ought To Know. I AM The Creator."

I'm not concerned of this hell that your religion stole and recreated as something to force the masses into following along. When I die, I will rot in the ground like everyone else.

I'll close this post by saying: In the name of His Noodly Goodness, RAmen.

funny how the free speech deal ends for some when they hear speak outside of their belief system...

Quick update for those who haven't been paying attention (I'm looking at you Gobigblue1982): The PPK offers no constitutional guarantee of free speech. Nor should it. It's a message board, not a governing body. It in fact relies on a certain amount of civil censorship to maintain it's stated purpose. People, for instance, can't post recipes that require beef or pork or any other meat. Very commonsense stuff. One of the driving principles behind this civil censorship is about affording respect to those of us with sexualities beyond your basic dude on dudette forking situation. If you got a problem with that and can't keep it to yourself, it doesn't make you persecuted, it doesn't make you the victim of a tyrannical regime, it just makes you a douche.

Homophobia. It is not tolerated here, including the intrinsically homophobic implication that homosexuality is a choice and a sin.

ha, wow...

whoa whoa whoa...

i don't know where to begin...

you can say that you don't agree with Christianity but it is undeniable that in within Christianity homosexuality is a sin. Just as lying, looking at another person in lust, sex outside of marriage, etc.

all i am doing is stating fact in Christian doctrine. if that would get me banned i would happily flee from the iron curtain...

funny how the free speech deal ends for some when they hear speak outside of their belief system...

also funny how the things that offend you about Christianity are the exact opposite of the things that offend many other parts of the world...

for instance, in many cultures the doctrine of sin is no problem at all... but the idea of endless love and turning the other cheek, loving sinners, etc. is highly offensive...

i'm sure you don't think your culture is superior to these other cultures do you???

if there is a God of the universe would it now make sense that He would offend all culture equally???

again, let's remember that many parts of the world consider woman as 2nd class citizens (to put it mildly), and will happily stone you to death for speaking the wrong words...

so again, God is God and the fact that you are a progressive and the idea of sin is offensive does not do anything but make you the minority within all of history and much of the world today...

i guess you would prefer a "Steford God"

Please note that anything in the Jewish Bible (aka Christian "Old Testament") regarding the gays is (1) directed at men only (2) and Jewish men at that. The idea was that a tribal people needed the babies. Lesbians were a-okay because the seed was not being spilled...elsewhere.

Also, I would like a list of the religions/cultures that do not have a doctrine of love and forgiveness. I am sensing some implied Islam bashing. If that is the case, you are wrong.

_________________A whole lot of access and privilege goes into being sanctimonious pricks J-DubDessert is currently a big bowl of sanctimonious, passive aggressive vegan enduced boak. FezzaYou people are way less funny than Pandacookie. Sucks to be you.-interrobang?!

While there may be similarities in many world religions, who lift stuff from each other frequently, I'm pretty sure the christians didn't steal their ideas from the aztecs.

None of us knows... I can tell you that both Quetz and Osiris had 12 disciples. There are a couple of books with decent arguments that Quetz and Saint Thomas were the same person in mythology.

What the shiitake kind of bathtub crack are you smoking?

This is the whole problem with religion (well, one of them). Making shiitake up to fit your wacked out a priori conclusion.

I agree. That's pretty much my point. It is all folklore and myth stolen from various places. You can't use it as a map for living or a reason to treat groups of people differently. You may as well decide to follow Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, or The Cat in the Hat.

None of us knows... I can tell you that both Quetz and Osiris had 12 disciples. There are a couple of books with decent arguments that Quetz and Saint Thomas were the same person in mythology.

What the shiitake kind of bathtub crack are you smoking?

This is the whole problem with religion (well, one of them). Making shiitake up to fit your wacked out a priori conclusion.

I agree. That's pretty much my point. It is all folklore and myth stolen from various places. You can't use it as a map for living or a reason to treat groups of people differently. You may as well decide to follow Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, or The Cat in the Hat.

Er...I think the point DDA is making is that the Aztecs were around in, let's say, the 14th through 16th centuries, whereas Jesus and the dudes who wrote about him (without, you know, knowing him) were around in, um, the 0th and 1st centuries.

Although...maybe Christians invented time travel? Perhaps we should explore this further...

_________________"I'd rather have dried catshit! I'd rather have astroturf! I'd rather have an igloo!"~Isa

"But really, anyone willing to dangle their baby in front of a crocodile is A-OK in my book."~SSD